Australian National University Public university in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 1946, it originally offered only graduate programs. Undergraduates were first admitted in 1960, and today the university offers a wide range of graduate and undergraduate pro¬ grams. Affiliated with the university are research schools of medicine, physical and biological sciences, social sciences, and Pacific studies.
Australian religion Religion of Australia’s Aborigines, based in the Dreaming. Religion involved living in agreement with the way of life ordained in the Dreaming, through the performance of rituals and obedi¬ ence to the law. Through dreams and other states of altered conscious¬
ness, the living could come into contact with the spiritual realm and gain strength from it; myths, dances, and other rituals bound the human, spiri¬ tual, and physical worlds together in a single cosmic order. A child’s spirit was held to come from the dreaming to animate a fetus, and a person’s spiritual heritage was more important than the bond between a physical parent and child. Sacred art included tjurunga, sand and cave paintings, and paintings on bark.
Australian Rules football Variety of football played between two teams of 18 players. The field is oval, 148-202 yd (135-185 m) long, with four goalposts at each end. A six-point goal is scored when the oval ball is kicked through the two central goalposts. A one-point “behind” is scored when the ball is kicked over the behind line extending between the central and outer goalposts. The game’s finest spectacle is the “mark” in which competing players leap, sometimes riding on the back of an oppo¬ nent, in order to catch the ball directly from the kick of another player. The player making such a catch is awarded a mark, an unhindered kick from behind the spot of the catch. The sport, Australia’s foremost, was developed in Melbourne. The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 as the first professional league. It was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect the addition of franchises outside of Victoria state.
Australopithecus Vo-.stra-lo-'pi-tha-kssV Latin "southern ape"
Genus of extinct hominins that may be ancestral to human beings ( Homo sapiens). The name Australopithecus refers to the first fossils, which were discovered in South Africa. Australopithecus lived in much of Africa dur¬ ing the Pliocene Epoch (c. 5.3-1.8 million years ago [mya]). These hom¬ inins were distinguished from apes by their upright posture and bipedal
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Austrasia ► Austro-German Alliance I 135
gait, and their teeth were more humanlike than apelike, but their brains were small and not very dif¬ ferent from those of living apes. Five species are recognized: A. anamen- sis (4.2-3.9 mya), A. afarensis (3.8- 2.9 mya), A. bahrelghazali (3.5-3.0 mya), A. africanus (3-2.4 mya), and A. garhi (2.5 mya). Three “robust” species are now instead classified as Paranthropus (2.7-1.3 mya): P. aethiopicus, P. robustus, and P. boi- sei. Paranthropus eventually became extinct, leaving no evolutionary suc¬ cessors. See also Hadar remains; human evolution; Laetoli footprints;
Lucy; Olduvai Gorge; Sterkfontein.
Austrasia \o-'stra-zh3\ or Ostrasia \a-'stra-zho\ Early medieval European kingdom. During the Merovingian dynasty (6th-8th centuries ad), it was the eastern Frankish kingdom and Neustria was the western kingdom. Austrasia covered present-day northeastern France and areas of western and central Germany; its capital was at Metz. The region was the power base of the early Carolingian mayors of the palace, one of whom, Pippin III, deposed the last Merovingian king in 751 and founded the Car¬ olingian dynasty. The dynasty’s heartland, Austrasia, was an important region in the empire established by Charlemagne.
Austria officially Republic of Austria Country, south-central Europe. Area: 32,383 sq mi (83,871 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 8,168,000. Capitaclass="underline" Vienna. The population is predominantly Austrian.
Lateral view of an Australopithecus africanus skull found at Sterkfontein, S.Af.
COURTESY OF THE TRANSVAAL MUSEUM, PRETORIA, S.AF.
Language: German (official). Religions:
Christianity (predominantly Roman Cath¬ olic; also Protestant); also Islam. Cur¬ rency: euro. Much of Austria is covered by Alpine regions, including the eastern Alps,
where the country’s highest point, the Grossglockner, is found. The Bohe¬ mian Forest, a highland region, extends north into the Czech Republic. The lowland region, including the Vienna Basin, lies in the east; it sup¬ ports mainly agricultural activities. The Danube River and its tributaries drain nearly the entire country. Austria has a developed mixed free-market and government-operated economy based on manufacture and commerce; tourism is also important. Austria is a republic with two legislative houses. The chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the chancellor. Austria’s greatest cultural contribution has been in music (see Joseph Haydn; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Franz Schubert; Alban Berg;
Anton Webern). Major cultural figures in other fields include Oskar Koko¬ schka in art, Sigmund Freud in psychoanalysis, and Ludwig Wittgenstein in philosophy. Settlement in Austria goes back some 3,000 years, when Illyr¬ ians were probably the main inhabitants. The Celts invaded c. 400 bc and established the kingdom of Noricum. The Romans arrived after 200 bc and established the provinces of Raetia, Noricum, and Pannonia; prosper¬ ity followed, and the population became Romanized. With the fall of Rome in the 5th century ad, many tribes invaded, including the Slavs; they were eventually subdued by Charlemagne, and the area became eth¬ nically Germanic. The distinct political entity that would become Austria emerged in 976 with Leopold I of Babenberg as margrave. In 1278 Rudolf IV of Habsburg (later Rudolf I as the king of Germany) conquered the area; Habsburg rule lasted until 1918. While in power, the Habsburgs created a kingdom centred on Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. The Napoleonic Wars brought about the end of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) and the emergence of the Austrian Empire. The prince von Metternich tried to assure Austrian supremacy among Germanic states, but war with Prussia led Austria to divide the empire into the Dual Monarchy of Austria- Hungary. Nationalist sentiment plagued the kingdom, and the assassina¬ tion of Francis Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb nationalist in 1914 triggered World War I, which destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the post¬ war carving up of Austria-Hungary, Austria became an independent repub¬ lic. It was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 (see Anschluss) and joined the Axis powers in World War II. The republic was restored in 1955 after 10 years of Allied occupation. Austria became a full member of the Euro¬ pean Union (EU) in 1995. After a half-century of military neutrality, Aus¬ tria was one of the few members of the EU that was not a member of NATO at the outset of the 21st century.
Austria-Hungary or Austro-Hungarian Empire Former mon¬ archy, central Europe. Austria-Hungary at one time included Austria and Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Bukovina, Transylvania, Camiola, Ktisten- land, Dalmatia, Croatia, Fiume, and Galicia. The so-called Dual Monar¬ chy, formed by the Compromise of 1867, created a king of Hungary in addition to the existing Austrian emperor; though these were the same person, Hungary was granted its own parliament and considerable autonomy. Francis Joseph held both titles from Austria-Hungary’s incep¬ tion until his death in 1916. Up to 1914, the monarchy maintained a pre¬ carious balance among its many minorities; that year saw the balance toppled with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist that precipitated World War I. With its defeat in that war and revolutions by the Czechs, Yugoslavs, and Hungarians, the monarchy collapsed in 1918.